


Mother Knows Best

by ThatScottishShipper



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)
Genre: Betrayal, Character Study, Corpses, Difficult Decisions, Don’t post to another site, F/F, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Minor Character Death, Minor Sindel/Shao Kahn, Minor Violence, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Past Sindel/Jerrod, Reference to sexual abuse, Resurrection, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21653938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatScottishShipper/pseuds/ThatScottishShipper
Summary: Queen Sindel is prepared to do anything to restore Edenia to its rightful glory, even if the truth of her ambitions conflict with her daughter.However, there is one lost daughter she is not ready to give up on.*Inspired by Sindel’s MK11 Ending.*
Relationships: Mileena/Tanya, Sindel/Jerrod, Sindel/Shao Kahn
Comments: 9
Kudos: 48





	Mother Knows Best

Queen Sindel thought nothing of casting a weak heart away to save what little was left of her Kingdom. A heart with no strength was not a boon, but only a means to nothingness.

As Jerrod’s life spilled from his veins, she thought it was for the best. Whatever was the alternative? Torture, violation… death? For her daughter? It was a sacred agreement, one she accepted long ago should the worst come to pass.

The Edenian Pride could not flicker out like a snuffed candle, not from the pacifist pride of their weak-hearted patriarch.

Too many conquered Realms, too many vanquished societies under the boot of an Outworld tyrant.

Down every step into the tomb, she descended, steeling herself with purpose. It broke her heart that her own flesh and blood was thrown so carelessly into the cobwebbed sanctum.

As her hand procured a source of light in the darkness, always the darkness, Sindel remembered.

_ Find her. _

_ Bring her back. _

_ She’ll understand. _

Finally, a nameless tomb came into view with a lamenting woman in black prostrated by the coffin. Ebony midnight hair shimmered in the nearby rows of candlelight, with only the faintest sounds of breathing giving life to the cold, empty tomb.

Something softened ever so briefly in the Queen’s expression at the sight of the grieving Edenian. In a world of betrayal and death, there was something reminiscent about the sight.

No. There was no time for tears, not now.

When Sindel approached, the mourning Edenian raised her head, revealing glossy white eyes, misted with grief. A flicker of recognition softened Tanya’s face, a surprised twitch of the eyebrows.

“...Empress?”

Within the darkness clouding her heart, perhaps from the banshee’s spirit itself, Sindel acknowledged Tanya’s loyalty to her own - to her family, to her affiliation if need be, and importantly, to her heritage.

Tanya made difficult choices, severed alliances if needed to further the Edenian cause. The Empress took that to heart, seeing a little of herself in this determined flower.

Unclouded by dark magick, untainted by the worst choices one might be prepared to make in life, but willing to.

Very willing to for Her Khanum.

Sindel sensed a tremor of fear, knowing that her daughter’s lover blamed herself for their loss. The loss of a leader, a lover, and the daughter of an Empress.

But Sindel showed no anger, or disappointment, for the death she mourned was not of her own hands.

In the faintest moment of maternal instinct piercing through the oppressive miasma consuming her, she spoke with regal consideration. Past the Queen’s lips, she said, “Dry your eyes…”

With those few words, Sindel offered upon Tanya mercy, a fleeting gesture in these times of hardship. It was only fitting for a strong woman like Tanya, who gave her loyalty to Edenia.

Even after Mileena’s death.

In Sindel’s eyes, Tanya was unwavering loyalty, everything that traitor, Jade, was not. With every cruel decision, Tanya never betrayed her, nor her other daughter. But the nightingale daughter could not see it, appreciate what needed to be done.

She held her hand out, casting violet energy into the closed tomb, causing the stone seal to come undone, revealing a withered corpse inside. Tanya gasped, but she never looked away.

Queen Sindel stared sadly at the remains of a loved one long past, heartbroken at such a cruel betrayal of her own.

D’Vorah paid. That insignificant insect paid over and over again at her hand, such was the gifts she had come to acquire. By her hand, not one thing ever truly died.

And she was not the only one.

Sindel could no longer trust her nightingale daughter, abandoning her flesh and blood for the commoners of Earthrealm. She was too like Jerrod. So much so, that history - she believed - might repeat itself through the wretched Liu Kang, seducing her wayward daughter to weakness. In that Shaolin’s shadow, not by her mother, she was endangered, corrupted by misguided intentions.

Kitana, her firstborn.

How it broke her heart that her ambitions, were declared monstrous by her own daughter. With a twist of the wrist, unadulterated energy absorbed the corpse.

She lost one daughter, but she still had another, one who understood everything.

Like an enlightened reversal of death basking in violet energy, the empty body regrew everything that was stripped from her demise. Muscles and nerves pulsated, her skeletal structure strengthened, and skin softened back into a healthy glow. Even her exposed Tarkatan fangs, framing her plump soft lips, regained their severed shine in the healing light.

The once deceased creature, so reviled by many, blinked, and Tanya was unable to resist, reaching out to embrace her soulmate, torn from her by death. In a moment of weakness, Tanya sobbed softly, holding a delirious Mileena, and Sindel permitted it.

Her daughter, after all, needed time to recover.

That heartless Kytinn knew nothing. To Sindel, her Mileena was as much a daughter as Kitana was, a living, breathing legacy of her own, and every bit a slave to the machinations of those vile sorcerers, and her  _ father _ .

Eventually, Sindel stepped forward, holding her hand out to her daughter, a daughter that would not fail her. Her only failing grace had been to surround herself with backstabbers and treacherous snakes.

But her Mother was there, with the level headed Tanya by her side.

“Come, my true daughter,” Sindel crooned, lifting Mileena into her arms. “Rule by my side. We shall entertain Titans and charlatans no longer.”

Life bubbled back into Mileena’s eyes, golden slits that melted with affection at the familiar sight. With Tanya’s assistance, the Queen’s daughter was guided into her mother’s arms where she felt familial acceptance.

“Mother…”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Sindel’s MK11 Ending, and her general dialogue in the game.
> 
> Oh. Wow. Sindel. Much controversy.
> 
> Even with the leaks in mind, Sindel’s Ending was still a stone cold shocker after knowing her from the original timeline. There’s been so many theories flying around about her actions from so many angles.
> 
> Is it retcon? Is it Sindel completely mind Controlled? Is Sindel that ruthless? Is it the Banshee spirit?
> 
> The pre-battle skits don’t help since they throw her completely in the EvilEmpress light, while showing us glimpses of a potentially caring Sindel? (Like her mentioning that Mileena is just as much a daughter to her.) It’s very conflicting.
> 
> My story takes Sindel from a perspective that might not be too popular, but based on the bits I got from the game, I wrote away and came up with this idea of Sindel as someone doing what she could to eventually restore Edenia, even if it meant siding with the enemy for a time.
> 
> And sadly losing Kitana.
> 
> Her actions, in that regard, sort of reminded me of Tanya, so I tried to handle her character from that perspective. She still holds a small maternal element nestled away beneath a shell she has to put up to do what she can.
> 
> And yay, Mileena’s back. 💜
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you enjoy it. 💜


End file.
